Chicago Transportation Tips by sambarnett

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: TO drive or not to drive, that is the question. I approach it this way: If I’m going to the Loop or the North Side, particularly Cubs day games, I prefer to use public transportation. Anything on the South or West side I usually drive.
   Get a map, learn it and create wacky short cuts, the Interstates occasionally resemble parking lots. Driving around the Loop, especially during rush hour, is a tiring game of skill, wit and perseverance.

Pictured: So rare I had to capture it in pictures. The Dyan Ryan, NOT clogged up.

Leave a Comment

'Mode': TO
Category: Train
Getting TO/AROUND: The commuter line, Metra, serves almost 250 stations in Chicago’s Illinois-surburbs. Mostly used for people going to and from work, it can also be of use to visitors. Some of the places with service, like Oak Lawn, are very much worth visiting. Or you can shop yourself stupid in downtown Chicago and then shop yourself stupid again in Schaumburg.

   Fares and routes vary, check out their website. They offer a $5 weekend pass that is a good deal, especially for families. Trains almost always run on time and delays are mentioned on radio and TV news. If you buy a ticket on the train when the station's ticket office was open the conductor adds a surcharge

Leave a Comment

Website: http://www.metrarail.com/

'Mode': TO
Category: Train
Getting TO/AROUND: The South Shore: bringing frown-faced people to work in the morning and wide-eyed youngsters to the city on weekends for almost 80 years now. The last of the electric interurbans that criss-crossed the eastern and midwestern United States, a ride on the South Shore is a ride of an era now long gone. It’s also very common for the trains to be running late, usually between 5 to 20 minutes. Everyone knows this, but they groan at the announcements anyway.

   The South Shore runs from the Randolph Street Station in the Loop to the South Bend Regional Airport. It is best for visiting Chicago from Northwest Indiana, Michigan City or South Bend. If you’re in Chicago and up for some wilderness hiking, the Dune Park and Beverly Shores stops are close to nice parts of the Indiana Dunes. Pictured left is one of the classic South Shore posters created in the late 1920s and displayed around Chicago, touting the industrial strength and natural beauty of northern, particularly northwestern, Indiana. This good lookin’ girl is on prominent display at my place. Many of the old South Shore posters are highly valued collectables now.

Leave a Comment

Website: www.nictd.com

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: Here's a great idea from the city: a FREE tourist trolley system connecting most of the city's major sites. They even ran a special, weekend-only Pilsen/Chinatown line last summer. Here's hoping they bring it back in '03.

   Currently the trolleys run on weekends only, Saturdays 10 am until 6, Sundays noon until 6. In summer they run everyday at longer hours.

   The stops are marked, but don't just hop on any trolley. Be sure to look for the words "Free Trolley" on the vehicle as there are other trolley company around town. And the bums tend to park at the free trolley stops, waiting to catch the unaware.

   Visit the website for complete information and route maps.

Leave a Comment

Website: www.cityofchicago.org/Transportation/trolleys

'Mode': TO
Category: Train
Getting TO/AROUND: Built between 1913-25, the grand Union Station harkens back to a bygone era, when rail was king and when Chicago was the railroad center of the United States. Located at 210 S. Canal Street, Union Station is bounded by Clinton and Canal on the west and east and Adams and Jackson to the north and south. Amtrak and commuter Metra services still eminate from this building.

Leave a Comment

'Mode': TO
Category: Train
Getting TO/AROUND: In a word: stunning. Rightfully regarded as one of the most beautiful interior public spaces in the country, the interior of Union Station, designed in a Beaux-Arts style with a vaulted skylight roof, elegant balconies and staircases and an airy, open waiting room, will make you cry when you consider the pathetic state of United States rail service (brought about by federal collusion with the auto industry, NOT merely a change in public tastes.)
   Even if your journey won't be taking you to Union Station, take a peek inside, it is well worth it and you never know what interesting things you'll see. Besides haggered or harried travelers I met a group of 30 Amish people who were paying a visit to the Big City.

Leave a Comment